Newcomers
by Sharon2567
Summary: Adoptions offshoot (by TweakerWolf) with new OC characters
1. Prologue Part 1

Prologue

Introducing, Carly and Sharon, plus their Weres Ran, Sabastian and Connor; Carly is a junior at Beacon Hills High and Sharon is a freshman. This is going to be an offshoot of Adoptions, because we wanted to try and introduce our own characters into the story and see what happens. This is the story of how they meet and become friends.

Carly: a punk rocker, dresses in dark clothes and a lot of band tee shirts, has wavy brown hair, brown eyes, is 5'6" and is of Hispanic descent. She's super friendly; always engaging the other students around her and making them feel welcome in any situation. Her favorite subject is math, but science is a close second. She always studies hard and does all her work, leading some of the other kids calling her a nerd but it doesn't bother her.

Birthday: December 3

Sharon: a stylish girl, who wears nice clothes but also comfortable clothes, because heels just aren't an everyday thing for her. Her hair is long, brown and wavy, although she curls/straightens it often; she's of German/Irish descent so she has fair skin and bluish green eyes. Sharon is super shy around new people and doesn't easily make friends, but loves the people that are close to her. Her favorite subject includes Shop class and she dislikes Biology. Not many of the other kids know much about her since she hardly ever talks, but she gets through classes just fine without them.

Birthday: April 23

Cam: Sharon's long time friend and ice skating partner, and is currently a Sophomore at BHHS; full name is Campbell. He has short (3 in) light brown hair (gelled up usually), brown eyes, and is about 6' tall, of European descent; his style can be classified as Preppy/Casual as he likes to dress well. He is completely loyal to his best friend and can get aggressive if pushed too far but is otherwise a compassionate person. His favorite class is French (although he is fluent in Spanish as well), and his least favorite is Algebra 2. Cam isn't quite as shy as Sharon, but he doesn't go out of his way to make a lot of friends, believing in quality over quantity, although he does warm up to Carly easily.

Birthday: October 14

Adam: A sophomore at BHHS, he is 5'11" with blue eyes and shaggy brown hair. He's quite the jock, loving lacrosse and working out; he plays for Coach Finstock, jersey number is 28. Adam's quite the honest sweetheart, if a bit outgoing. Because of this he greatly dislikes bullies of any kind and his algebra class (man is his teacher mean). His clothing style could be classified as laid back or casual, often wearing loose-fitting clothes.

Birthday: February 9

Ran: Carly's Were pet, is of Japanese descent so she has straight black hair and olive toned skin; she's rather quiet, not speaking very often, so Carly teaches her some basic Sign Language to allow her to communicate. Ran (name means Water Lily in Japanese) loves to read and learn, and dresses in baggy clothes to maintain comfort. She is very protective of her friends and is quick to anger if anyone threatens those she is close to.

Birthday: June 25

Sabastian: Twin brother of Connor, both of whom belong to Sharon. He loves sports, eager to try out lacrosse as soon as he finds out they get to go to school. He is the quieter of the pair, with curly blonde hair. His favorite class is Shop class and least favorite is English (thanks to Jackson). His favorite candy is gummy bears, especially the red ones, and he is spoiled by Ran.

Birthday: November 25

Connor: Twin brother of Sabastian, he also loves sports and is the more outgoing of the two. He has straight hair unlike his brother, so it's easy to tell them apart. His favorite class is Spanish, and he dislikes English, just like his brother. He loves M&M's, which Ran always gives him, and he is often surprised by Sharon's shy nature because she is very open around them.

Birthday: November 25

Carly was sitting in Econ, laughing at Coach Finstock's antics like the rest of the class; he might be weird but he was a pretty good teacher. School had started a few months ago and they were finally getting assigned a group project, she was excited. There were a few people in the class that she knew would be good partners and some she would do anything to avoid, the rest, she'd just have to find out. When he called out her name, she perked up, ready to meet her partner; then he called out Sharon's name and Carly scanned the classroom. As Sharon met her gaze, Carly gave a warm wave and smiled; Sharon offered the briefest of smiles before turning back to the teacher as he finished pairing up the students.

Once he was done, he told everyone to get to work, and there was a brief scramble as everyone tried to organize their new seating. Once they all sat down, there was a dull buzz as everyone tried to talk without being too loud.

"Hey Sharon, I don't think we've ever really spoke, I'm Carly, nice to meet you," Carly said, taking charge and initiating the conversation.

"Well, I'm Sharon, as you know," Sharon laughed quietly, not knowing what else to say.

But Carly powered on, pulling up the paper that Coach had given them, "Okay, so we need to come up with our own company, give it a name and a business card design, that's easy. Let's see what else, oh; we'll have to describe our product and our advertisement ideas. Then discuss our wages and worker tiers, got to have some kind of ladder for them to rise up. This doesn't seem too bad, where do you want to start?"

Sharon glanced down at her paper, "Um, I guess we might as well decide on our product line, then it will be easier to decide on a business card and maybe company name. How long do we have?"

"Two weeks. We should probably find time outside of school to work on this, when are you free?"

Sharon gave a big smile, so glad to be with someone that seemed eager to do their share of the work, "I'm not in any clubs or anything so I'm free after school every day. As long as I text my mom and get home before dinner, she should be okay with it. Would it be okay if we go to your house? Or maybe the library if you want, Dad works from home so I don't know how he'd feel about company coming over."

Carly nodded in understanding, "Not a problem, my house is fine, if you don't mind meeting my mom; she's fun, just a little weird some times. But she totally nurtures my creativity and lets me do whatever I want to my room, she's really awesome like that. And I'm sure she'll let us order a pizza, do you like pizza?"

"Uh, yea, pizza's fine, pepperoni? And your Mom does sound like fun," Sharon slowly added, not sure how she felt about the barrage of information.

"Cool. Since class is almost over, did you want to just meet out front after school? I can give you a lift to my house and then you can just let me know when to take you home."

Sharon agreed to that, glad that her partner was so understanding; when the bell rang, Carly said goodbye and flew out of the classroom, eager for her next class.

*After School*

Carly stood at the bottom of the steps, twirling her keys around her index finger as she waited for Sharon. She hoped she hadn't come on too strong earlier; Sharon seemed slightly taken back when she had been explaining her mom. But it was nothing a productive afternoon couldn't smooth out, especially after she actually came to the house. Carly loved making friends, and Sharon definitely seemed like a nice person, just a little shy maybe. Just then Sharon appeared, a polite grin on her face.

"Ready to go?" Carly asked.

"Going, you're going somewhere Sharon?" asked a boy that came up behind her. He immediately gave Carly a skeptical brow raise.

"Oh, who is this? Is he coming too?" Carly asked, more than friendly.

"No, no… Cam isn't coming. Uh, right, this is my friend Cam, best friend really," Sharon fumbled.

"Oh, well nice to meet you Cam, name's Carly. I'm Sharon's new partner in Econ, we're going to be building a business together- isn't that great?"

Cam opened his eyes just a bit wider, "Yea, fun stuff. Can I walk you to your car then?"

"Sure, this way!"

Sharon nodded in agreement and let Carly lead the way; she gaped in surprise when Carly led her over to the sleek black truck that everyone knew. How had Sharon never noticed who was driving this monster? The truck was loud, to say the least; every time it pulled into the parking lot, there was music blaring and the exhaust was rumbling. The first time she heard it start up after school, Sharon had jumped out of her skin, the loud exhaust surprising her as it gunned passed her.

"Whoa, no way; no, way! This baby is yours? Seriously?" Cam asked full of awe. He walked up to the truck and carefully placed his hand on the hood.

"Yea, this is my baby all right, worked hard to get her too, provide her with a kickass sound system, beast muffler, the works. Where is your ride? You have one right?"

"You know it, I'll bring her over."

Sharon couldn't help but roll her eyes, leave it to Cam to talk vehicles with her new partner. But at least he didn't immediately hate her so that was a really big thing in Sharon's book. She looked over at her new partner and could tell that she was eager to see this ride, she was standing on her tiptoes and was scanning for Cam. She was biting the inside of her cheek, she could already tell that Carly was going to be stoked when Campbell got back. And there he was, Sharon could hear his engine revving up as he pulled out of his space. Within seconds his sleek motorcycle was pulling up in front of the truck and he dropped the kickstand and pulled off his helmet.

"No way, a motorcycle, way cool! I wanted one, but Mom wouldn't stand for it 'cause my grandfather died on one. So badass truck instead, which is still totally cool. Trade you for a day sometime?" Carly joked.

"Maybe, we'll have to see about that. Glad you like it. I'd love to sit here and discuss these more but I've got to run and you two have to go build your business, so excuse me ladies, but I'm off," Cam said. He gave Sharon a hug and then with a quick wave he was off.

"You're friend is cool, I like him," Carly declared.

Sharon laughed, caught by surprise but she supposed this was good; it would be very troublesome if they didn't like each other for the next two weeks. She turned to the truck as Carly unlocked it, cautiously climbing in, the 6in lift making her pull on the door handle to get some leverage; but she quickly buckled in only to jump again as Carly started the truck up. Instantly there was loud music roaring in her ears, which Carly quickly turned down, giving Sharon a sheepish smile.

"Sorry 'bout that, I usually drive by myself, and I love loud music. Although I'm sure you know that, this truck is kinda hard to miss as I drive to school," Carly laughed. "Do you like As I Lay Dying?"

Sharon just stared wide-eyed at the older teen, not even knowing who that was, so she gave a slow shake of her head. As she listened to the music coming out of the speakers, she wondered if there were any actual words in the song, it sounded very confusing to her. Carly gave a slight disappointed look and Sharon was suddenly afraid that she offended her in some way.

"Darn, no one here really likes my music," Carly sighed melodramatically. "It's cool though, I like Pop, Country, and Classic Rock. What do you prefer?" Carly asked, fingers on the dial, switching to the radio and flipping through the stations.

"Pop is fine," she replied, barely audible.

Carly nodded her head and found a good station, instantly tapping her fingers to the beat. The first part of the car ride was quiet, Sharon staring out the window, looking at the houses as they drove by.

"So, did you come up with anything for our project? I'm completely stuck on what we could be selling… once we figure that out I think the rest will be easy, we should have no problem pulling everything together once we crack the hardest part."

Sharon agreed, but hadn't had time to think about it during school, but hopefully they'd come up with something before it was time to go home. Sharon would feel just awful if today would be a total waste because she couldn't come up with anything good.

It wasn't long before Carly was pulling into the driveway, and Sharon gasped in surprise, she didn't live too far from here. If she wanted to she could probably walk home (if it wasn't raining of course).

"Everything okay?" Carly asked, hearing the small gasp.

"Y-yea, you just live kinda close to me, I didn't really expect that is all."

"Really? That's cool!"

They climbed out of the truck and went in through the garage, a dog instantly coming to greet them. Sharon jumped slightly, not expecting the black lab to jump at her, but Carly stepped in the way, catching its paws and scolding the dog.

"Gotham, you know you shouldn't jump on new people, it's rude."

Sharon laughed as the dog seemed to look ashamed, ears down and eyes downcast, but his tail was still wagging.

"Oh gosh, I hope you aren't allergic, I didn't even think about that," Carly stated, looking fearfully back at her new partner.

"No, it's fine, I was just surprised. He's adorable though, just really, big."

"Yea and he thinks he belongs in my lap, but he's well mannered and completely smart too! I've taught him a bunch of neat tricks."

The pair moved into the kitchen, Carly calling out for her Mom to announce that she had a guest. A voice called out to them, saying she'd be in shortly and Sharon started to get a little nervous, she really wasn't good with other people's parents. But she didn't have time to dwell on it because Carly pulled her into the family room, and dropped off all her stuff and inviting Sharon to do the same.

Carly plopped down on the floor, crossing her legs, "Go ahead and get comfy, no need to stand."

"Oh, right, of course," Sharon laughed, sitting down on the couch as Gotham crawled into his owner's lap.

Just then a woman walked into the room, colorful hat on her head, "Hello! I'm Marie Hernandez, Carly's mom, nice to meet you."

"Hi, I'm Sharon," she replied after clearing her throat.

Carly just snorted, "Like her hat? She made it herself, and you're probably going to get one for Christmas if you aren't careful."

"There is nothing wrong with my hats Carly; you love the one I made for you! Right?"

"Yea Mom, I wear it now and again, you know I love it! I just can't wear it at school. But anyways, Sharon is my partner for a something in Econ, so we might be hanging out after school for awhile. Can we have pizza as a snack? Please?"

Sharon sat, watching these two interact, they spoke so fast and so openly with each other, it made her smile. Before she knew it Mrs. Hernandez was excusing herself to go order the pizza and leave them be. "So, that was my mom, she makes handbags for people, although mostly she's a housewife, cooks, cleans, tells me to clean up my room. And she makes hats of course," Carly added, laughing again. "Aaaanyways, let's see where we could start," she carried on, pulling out the Econ paper again.

Sharon slowly started to warm up, Carly was always bouncing ideas off of her, wanting her insight, wanting to include her; she was slowly winning Sharon over. After they ate pizza and finally decided on a company product, it was time for Sharon to head home.

"Um, Carly, could you take me home now? I like to be there before Mom gets back from work."

"Of course, not a problem, do you have all your stuff?"

Sharon nodded her head, having gathered all her loose papers already; she said a quick goodbye to Mrs. Hernandez before following Carly back out to the truck. She gave the Junior quick directions to her house, the business conversation continuing as they drove. When they got to her house, Sharon whispered goodbye and hopped out of the truck, jogging up to her front door. As she glanced back over her shoulder, she was surprised that Carly was still there, waiting for her to get in the house, offering up a warm wave before finally putting the truck into gear. Sharon went up to her room to work on her other homework, happy that she got partnered with Carly, even if they were polar opposites.

*The Next Day*

The class had the whole period to work on their project so Carly was sitting with Sharon again; plopping into the chair next to her like she had always sat there. Together they pulled out their papers and got to work, Carly working on coming up with a quirky company name while Sharon worked on advertising strategies. Before they knew it, the bell rang, signaling the end of 2nd period.

"Hey, Sharon, would you be okay if we sat together at lunch? That way we can work on this some more, I like to have things done early so there is no stress, you know? It's cool if you'd rather sit with your friends though," Carly added good-naturedly.

Sharon blanched, Carly was a Junior, didn't that mean she'd have to go sit with other Juniors? Sharon wasn't sure she could handle anymore upper classman, not after having to deal with Jackson all the time, and he was only a Sophomore! She blinked as Carly waved her hand in front of her face, apparently she had spaced out in her moment of anxiety.

"It's fine, you won't hurt my feelings if you want to sit with your friends, honest. I'm a big girl, are you okay?" Carly asked, seeing the crestfallen look on her partner's face.

"Yea, it's just, I…I don't really have friends here besides Cam you know. I usually sit outside for lunch because I don't want to sit by myself, I'm way too shy to try and ask someone if I can sit with them. Cam sits with me though, even if that means kinda ignoring some of the other guys he knows," Sharon admitted, feeling embarrassed.

But Carly understood what that was like so she put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "That's fine, we can sit outside, Cam won't mind right? He seems like a really good friend."

Sharon nodded her head, fidgeting with one of the straps on her pack, at least this way she didn't have to sit with any Juniors! It was still going to be weird sharing her table with someone else besides Cam though. Carly gave her shoulder a quick squeeze before letting go, telling her that she'd meet her at the Cafeteria entrance.

*Lunch*

Sharon stood outside the cafeteria, continuously readjusting her back pack as she waited for Carly to appear. It took a few moments, but Carly showed up, apologizing because her teacher ended up holding them back since they wouldn't be quiet.

"Come on, I'm just going to tell my friends that I'll be gone, don't want them to worry about me," Carly said, pushing open the doors.

Taking a deep breath, Sharon followed behind her, looking down at her feet the whole way; she was so nervous that she bumped into Carly's bag when she suddenly stopped. She could feel her face turning red, feeling clumsy for not even noticing that she had stopped walking, barely listening as Carly gave her friends a quick explanation before walking off again, Sharon right behind her.

"Where to? Is Cam already out here?" Carly asked as soon as they were outside, turning to look at the shorter teen.

Carly noticed her red face, feeling bad that she made Sharon follow her to the table; maybe she should have just met her outside instead. She waited patiently as Sharon came out of her anxious funk and led the way to the right table. As they sat down Cam noticed his best friend's face.

"Sharon, what's wrong?" he asked, looking to Carly for answers.

Carly gave a small shrug, completely unsure as to what was wrong. Instead she pulled out a baggie of Reese's Pieces and offered them to Sharon, "You alright?"

Sharon nodded her head and grabbed a small handful of the candies, eating them one at a time, still looking at her hands and not at her companions.

Carly decided to give her some time, so she pulled out the rest of her lunch and took a few bites, glancing at the other girl every so often. Cam followed suit, knowing that Sharon was embarrassed about something; that meant the more he tried to push the more she'd close up. This was something he'd have to wait out, especially since Carly didn't know why she was embarrassed either. It took a few moments before Sharon was ready to speak.

"Sorry about earlier, I didn't mean to run into you, I wasn't paying attention."

Carly shrugged, "It's fine, it's not like you were running or anything, barely even felt it. What else is on your mind?"

Sharon sighed, not sure how to continue, "I just always feel so nervous around people, I feel like I probably embarrassed you in there…"

Cam sighed, "Sharon…"

"That's nothing to worry about, those kids don't care, they are really laid back. It's not like I introduced you, so you didn't even have to say hi. They probably didn't even give it a second thought after we walked away. Don't worry about it okay?" Carly suggested, smiling at the girl.

"Yea, okay. Thanks for not yelling at me for being a stupid Freshman."

Carly almost choked on her candy as Sharon said that, "Why would I do that? Everyone was a Freshman once, it's not like you can avoid it! Well, I mean maybe if you skipped a grade but, well you know what I mean. Do people say that to you a lot? What classes are you taking?"

Sharon looked up, surprised at the fierce reaction, she reached into her bag and pulled out her schedule, handing it over. Carly scanned it quickly before handing it back, commenting on it.

"You're in Bio, English 10 and Econ, hardly Freshman classes. How can anyone call you a dumb Freshie? Ugh, I swear, high school is so stupid sometimes… Why are Freshman picked on all the time? No wonder you sit out here all the time, I would too."

"If we both sat in there, I'd hardly be at school I'd be getting into so many fights," Cam admitted before nonchalantly taking a bite of his sandwich.

"Cam, that's awful, if you got into fights then what would I do while you were suspended? That's why we sit out here, to keep you out of trouble!" Sharon countered, Cam's usual attitude pulling her out of her funk. Then she turned to Carly, "You weren't picked on as a Freshman?"

"Hardly, I was much more punk as a Freshie," Carly laughed. "I think a lot of people avoided me because I was weird. I wore safety pins for earrings and had my hair in a spiked ponytail, no one wanted to talk to me. But then people found out I was smart, I think I surprised the teachers too. Slowly I won people over with my friendly attitude and they learned you can't always judge people. But apparently there are still assholes in the school. You should act more like I did, then people wouldn't bother you."

"Whoa, whoa… that was you? Holy crap, I saw you during my 8th grade trip here."

"Really? Wasn't I totally badass?" Carly asked.

"Uh, not quite the words I would use but at least you followed your own style. I mean I can tell that you didn't wear that as a shock value thing like some 'goth' kids do. You rocked the style to say the least. I do like this version better though, much tamer."

Sharon just gaped at her while they were talking, "You think I can pull of spiked hair and safety pin earrings… and bands tee shirts with things like –squints so she can read Carly's shirt- Disturbed, with a creepy guy on it?"

Cam shook his head, "No, no, I won't let you Sharon. You'll have even more trouble if you do that. Don't draw any more attention to yourself."

Carly burst out laughing, the look on Sharon's and Cam's face was priceless, "Okay, maybe you couldn't and Disturbed by the way is awesome, hardly the heaviest band I listen to. Just don't focus on it too much I guess, I mean, you have friends in class right?"

Sharon just kind of shrugged and Cam reached over to grab her hand, neither committing to an answer, which was plenty of an answer for Carly. She felt bad for Sharon, it wasn't really fun to go through school and not have friends; Carly decided then and there that she wanted to be Sharon's friend (and by extension, Cam's friend too).

As they got up to head to 4th period, Carly casually asked Sharon a question, "Do you want to hang out tomorrow at lunch, I don't mind eating out here, it's kinda nice."

Suspecting the teen's motive, Sharon looked over at Carly, searching her face for any sign of teasing, but she saw none. She smiled warmly at her, nodding her head, that would be nice. They promised to meet up after school again before parting ways. Cam put his arm around Sharon as they walked back into the school, promising to be there tomorrow. So far Carly seemed nice, but she was a Junior that he knew almost nothing about- he didn't trust her yet.

*After School*

Carly was standing in the same spot as yesterday, totally preparing to offer Sharon some food on the way home, she was definitely craving some Wendy's today. It wasn't long before Sharon appeared and they hopped in the truck (this time Carly had turned down the radio before turning off the truck, so it wasn't super loud when she turned it on). She told Sharon about the quick detour, offering to get something for her if she wanted, and Sharon decided to take her up on the meal, Wendy's fries were delicious. By the time the pair made it to Carly's house, Sharon was in a much better mood than before.

"You know, we can always take a break from Econ if you want, we can just chill or maybe work on other stuff. I'm in Spanish as well, so we could totally study together if you want, you know just to mix it up," Carly offered, wanting Sharon to feel welcome here and more relaxed.

"That sounds nice, since we have plenty of time for the Econ project and we have a test in Spanish tomorrow that I'd really like to study for."

Carly smiled, "Sounds like a plan."

*A few days later*

A pattern slowly started to emerge between the two teens, almost every day after school, they would head to Carly's house for studying and homework, often working on more than just Economics stuff. And the times they didn't have homework, or they had something else to do outside of school, Carly would give Sharon a ride home; always making sure she got in the house safely.

They were slowly becoming friends, eventually sharing more about themselves and talking about their lives outside of school. The first time Sharon actually got to see Carly's room, she had been completely taken aback. The walls were filled with sketches of animals and anime characters, even original drawings. Some were painted and some were left just as pencil sketches; Sharon took a long time looking over all of them before staring at Carly.

"What, where you expecting it to be all black with band posters everywhere," Carly joked.

'Uh, kinda yea," Sharon admitted.

Carly just laughed, "I love my bands, but I love drawing more, so I started doodling on my walls when I was a kid. Mom never got mad at me or made me erase them, she loved seeing me express myself, and as I got older I started painting them."

"I love to draw too, mostly doodle but I also do more serious stuff, I had no idea we had that in common," Sharon said, looking back over some of the art again.

"Well, that's the fun part of making friends, finding all the things that you have in common, it's surprising sometimes isn't it?"

Sharon smiled warmly, "Yea, you're right."

*Later in the school year*

Long after the Economics project was done, Carly and Sharon were still hanging out every day, Cam responsibly tagging along; sometimes they'd eat outdoors and very rarely the two of them would come and eat with Carly's other friends. But Carly didn't seem bothered by it at all, she never complained about missing her old friends, or hoping that Sharon would try and get to know them better, she just let her be herself. That was probably Sharon's favorite thing about her, Carly never seemed disappointed in the choices that she made (other than her lack of music experience), and always made her feel normal.

When Sharon had a bad day, Carly was always there to help out, give her a shoulder to lean on and an ear to vent to, always taking her side of things. Sharon was starting to see why friends were important, she hadn't really had any close friends like this since middle school. She was coming to depend on Carly a lot and she surprised herself by being okay with it. Up to this point, she'd only had Cam, and she loved Cam…but this was different with Carly. Cam and Sharon had grown up together, had been thrown together at a young age and stuck through everything. They'd had some bad times, rough weather here and there but they always managed to work through it. With Carly, they were random classmates that got paired together; as soon as the project was over there was nothing stopping Carly from moving on. Carly's friendship proved to Sharon that she had something to give to others and that she had value.

The best part was that Cam had become very accepting of the older teen as well, although it didn't take a lot for the two of them to realize how much they had in common. At first Sharon had been unsure since, at least by first appearances, they seemed completely different. Cam was always dressed nicely, didn't talk to many people whereas as Carly was very punk and super friendly to almost everyone around her. But they had a mutual love of vehicles and Sharon, leading to them to figuring out other things they had in common; often talking about their favorite comic book characters or favorite authors. Sharon could tell that he was holding back still but he at least wasn't giving her the cold shoulder or minimal conversations. What really sealed their friendships was what happened after a particularly nasty day.

Sharon came bursting out of her History class, tears spilling out of her eyes; Cam, who was just exiting his French class, immediate ran over to her and wrapped his arms around her.

"What happened, what's going on?" he asked.

"It's Jackson again, he decided to be extra rude to me today in History and it just really got to me. He did leave me alone for awhile but for some reason it's fun again. I'm fine, let's just go meet up with Carly," Sharon said, wiping her face with her sleeve.

Cam glanced around for the bully but he was already long gone, so he led his best friend down to the first floor and out the front doors. Carly turned around and saw them, her smile dropping quickly.

"Why are you crying?"

"Jackson decided to pick up his bullying again, figures Sharon is fun to pick on once more. Guess he didn't learn his lesson last time," Cam spat out vehemently. "Come on, let's get her to the truck."

But Carly was having none of it, she was tired of hearing about Jackson being a rude asshole to her. When Sharon had first confided in her about her issues with Jackson, Carly had been livid. Sharon didn't want her to say anything to him, figuring it was best if it was just left alone. But Carly couldn't see her upset like this and not do anything about it. Plus she knew that Cam had plans to confront Jackson as soon as Sharon was safely tucked away, and there was no way she was going to let him have all the credit. Jackson needed to be stopped.

"No, Jackson needs to see that she has friends that aren't going to let him get away with this, and I'm her friend too- let's go!" She grabbed Sharon's hand and started off towards the field, but Cam jumped between the two girls.

"Whoa, whoa, I'm not going to let you go out on the field and get your ass beat," Cam whispered, keeping Sharon safely tucked under his other arm. If they talked quietly enough then hopefully she wouldn't get upset any further.

Carly caught on fairly quick and whispered back, "I can handle myself, thank you very much! Besides I'm not actually going to fight him, not with Coach Finstock there. I'm actually saving your ass too! Do you want to get suspended?"

"Better to be suspended for defending Sharon than to let Jackson think he can get away with this crap! I can, and will, knock some sense into him. Take her to the truck, she doesn't need to see this!"

"Just let me handle it, and Sharon is a big girl, she needs to see that Jackson isn't untouchable! I know how to deal with simpletons like Jackson… beside if you handle it, Jackson it likely to end up dead, and since you only have a motorcycle, that means you'd have no way to transport his body and you'd have to use my truck. I am not letting my baby sit in a police impound lot because you might not know how to cover your tracks! Let. Me. Handle. It."

Cam finally backed down, partially because he was slightly surprised at Carly's insight, so he let her lead the way. As soon as they were close enough, Carly started yelling out his name to get his attention. "Whittemore! Hey, Whittemore! You asshole, what's wrong with you? Huh?" Carly shouted, as Cam gently pushed Sharon behind him to block her from Jackson's glare.

"Do you get off on teasing Freshman? Do you think it makes you big and bad? Boy, I wish I'm around when someone knocks you down a peg or two. Hell, maybe I'll just do it myself, right now. Be warned Jackson, you better stop treating her this way or so help me I'll-"

"What will you do freak?" Jackson cut in, finally getting over his initial shock.

He grinned at her like he won, and started to turn back to the other players, Sharon's two defenders grinding their teeth in anger. Cam reached forward but Carly knocked his hand away and grabbed the back of Jackson's jersey and spun him around, "I'll curse you Whittemore."

Sharon peeked around Cam's shoulders and saw Jackson's face go as white as a sheet, his mouth fell open and all the lacrosse players gasped.

"Y-you wouldn't dare, you don't do stuff like that. You're bluffing!" Jackson called out, trying to appear brave.

Carly scoffed at his attempted bravado, raising her hand to her mouth and biting into the meat of her palm, and drawing blood. She smeared the blood across her palms with her lips and reached her hand out to him, calling out in another language. Sharon felt herself go pale, Carly was going to curse him? She knew curses?

Jackson didn't give her time to finish, he swore at her and then sprinted off towards the locker room, no doubt to get Coach Finstock. Carly gave a satisfactory grin with her blood smeared lips, looking around at all the other players, giving a quick wink to her friend Matt. Then she spun around and ushered the other two back to the truck, Sharon not saying a word.

As soon as she unlocked the doors, Carly pulled a tissue out from her door panel and clamped it down on her hand, wiping the blood from her mouth on the back of her good hand. Then she smiled over at Sharon and Cam, "Did you see the look on his face?"

"Exorcism huh? Somehow I doubt he's being possessed by a demon… even if he is a complete ASS," Cam laughed, giving the punk teen an appraising look. "By the way, it's 'Ut Ecclesiam tuam secura' you pronounced Ecclesiam as Exlasiam, small mistake."

"No way, you know Latin too? Sharon, your friend is awesome! What other languages do you know? I love languages!"

But Sharon just looked at Carly, interrupting before Cam could answer, "Yo-you know curses, like black magic?"

Carly easily picked up on the tremor in her voice, "No, no, I swear I don't. I was just speaking Latin, well, kinda, I'm rusty and as Cam pointed out, my pronunciation isn't perfect. And I just bit my hand because everyone is suddenly afraid when blood comes into play. Like Cam figured out, it was just an exorcism. You should watch Supernatural you know, could learn lots of interesting things."

Sharon collapsed against the Cam, so relieved; she knew Carly wouldn't lie about something like that. Cam was still chuckling to himself as he relived the moment.

"Well you sure showed me, apparently you do know how to handle yourself. Luckily Jackson doesn't know Latin. And by the way, I know Latin, Spanish, and am learning French; I'm always open to learning new languages as well."

"Ha, that's a hilarious thought, I swear he barely knows English. But, no telling anyone that was fake, it would totally ruin the reputation I didn't know I had. Maybe we can study Rosetta Stone over the weekend some time."

Sharon laughed then, all the tension leaving her body, "Do people automatically think you can cast curses just because you like heavy metal?"

"Pretty much, yea," Carly shrugged.

Cam pulled Sharon in for a tight hug and helped her climb into the truck, offering to follow them to Carly's if he wanted her company. Both girls nodded, thinking it would be nice to have him come over. Before Carly could climb into the truck, Cam caught her arm.

"Thanks, not for saving my ass or anything. But, it's really good to know that someone else is really looking out for her you know? It's easy to be mad and talk to her when she's upset, but to actually take the fight to the bully, that means a lot. Now I can really know that you'll stand up for her as much as I would," Cam whispered.

Carly gave him a genuine smile, "Yea, and not get suspended while doing it. I know it's easy to think I have shallow friendships since I'm friends with so many people. But Sharon, she's a good person, I wasn't going to let her go through high school with only one friend. I'm so happy she let me in, I feel really close to her despite some of our differences and I won't let anyone hurt her."

Cam nodded and gave Carly a quick hug, whispering another thank you before letting her climb into the truck. As soon as Carly started the truck up, Sharon crawled across the seat and hugged Carly, whispering a soft thank you; she had never had someone go through so much trouble for her, in that moment, she knew they'd be friends for a long time.


	2. Prologue Part 2

*Meeting Ran*

Carly woke up early, today was her birthday and she was so excited that it was on a Sunday this year; no school and singing in every class. Plus this meant Mom was making breakfast, although it was nothing special, just pancakes and bacon, but she loved when Mom made breakfast for her. She ran down the hall and into the kitchen, giving her mom a hug, although she was slightly surprised to see her dad in the kitchen too.

"Hey Dad, good morning! I didn't think you'd be up yet."

"But it's your birthday, of course I'm up, I'm going to making some fried potatoes to go with breakfast, did you want some?"

"Yea! Those are delicious, how could I pass on those?" Carly responded, giving him a hug as well.

Then she went into the living room to grab a book off the bookshelf, bringing it into the kitchen. She loved to read at the bar while Mom was cooking, even if they didn't say much, it was still spending time together. When the food was ready, they all sat down at the table and ate, Carly telling her parents about school and her friends; because her dad worked long hours, she hardly got to see him.

"Don't forget, we're going over to your Aunt's house for lunch and presents! So be ready to go by noon."

"Okay, I will be, thanks again for breakfast, love you guys!"

The rest of the morning was spent by Carly lazing around on the couch reading her book; she quickly got dressed as they were getting ready for lunch. She quickly messaged Sharon, telling her that they were on the way to pick her up for the celebrations. By now, they had become best friends, so it would have been weird if she wasn't going to be there.

By the time they arrived at her Aunt's house, Carly was excited, making guesses as to what Sharon might have gotten her. But Sharon kept laughing, telling her that she was never going to guess, which only made Carly guess harder!

Carly kept Sharon by her side while they had lunch, knowing that she didn't know anyone here besides her parents. She introduced her shy friend to her aunt and uncle and then her grandparents before letting her escape to the kitchen to get food. Carly had a great time with her family and Sharon, and she was beyond ready to open presents.

"Present time! Gimme gimme," Carly laughed, sitting on the ground by all the presents.

"Open mine first," Sharon whispers, knowing that she'd be confused.

Carly nodded and takes the gift bag from her friend, reading the personalized card first, "Oh that's sweet, thank you," Carly comments, hugging her best friend.

Then she takes out all the tissue paper and reached into the bag, taking out a pack of small cups, a confused look on her face. She looked into the bag and found some more stuff, a couple of small bowls and plates.

"Thanks Sharon, I will totally have a miniature tea party with the ants out back," Carly laughed, wondering if this was a gag gift.

Her aunt then gently passed her a box, "Open this one next."

Carly took the box, and undid the ribbon tying to closed; she slid the top off and gasped as she looked at the contents. Inside the box was the most adorable little Werewolf looking up at her, ears perked up. She gently reached in and pulled out the wolf, understanding why Sharon had given her the small gifts.

"Hey there girl, I'm Carly, nice to meet you."

The little Were nodded her head and waved, a small smile on her face. But she didn't say a word, which didn't bother Carly, she just reached up and rubbed her head.

"I got her from my friend, you know Karen, the breeder I know?"

"Karen bred her? Really?" Carly asked, the little wolf looked distinctly Asian, and last she had heard, Karen only had American Weres. But her Aunt continued to explain.

"Earlier this year her and her husband traveled to Japan and took a bunch of her Weres with them, it turns out there were a bunch that wanted to travel. And because she's a licensed breeder it wasn't hard for her to take them to a foreign country. And when she got there, she met up with a Japanese breeder that fell in love with her Weres. So they decided to swap Weres basically and Karen brought home Japanese Weres; she's been breeding them pretty successfully.

"When I went over there to pick one out, I saw Ran and she was sitting on the table reading when all of the other Weres were running around. Karen explained that Ran is very quiet, she really doesn't like to talk much, but she does speak. I realized she was the perfect Were for you, since you spend a lot of time reading and drawing," her aunt explained.

"Ran, that's a beautiful name, what does it mean?" Carly asked as she continued to pet her new mini wolf.

"Water Lily is what Karen told me, a beautiful name for a beautiful wolf."

Carly slowly brought the Were up to her cheek, nuzzling her, she felt tiny little hands reach up and stroke her cheek. Apparently Ran liked her as well. She wasted no time in opening the rest of her presents with Ran in her lap. Everyone had gotten together and bought her a lot of supplies for her new pet and she loved them all.

After all the presents were opened, she went around and thanked everyone and introduced Ran to the whole family, Sharon included. After presents it was time to clean up and head back to the house so she could explain everything to Ran. When they got back into the car, Sharon shyly pulled out another bag that she had hidden under the seat.

"Here's another gift, I didn't want to have you open it in front of everyone, it might have been embarrassing," she explained, handing the bag over.

Ran sat on her shoulder as she quickly reached in the bag and pulled out a small seat. Carly looked at it, noticing a hole in the bottom, but she had no idea what it might have been for.

Sharon blushed, "I looked up some stuff about Were care and noticed that they suggest getting a little bathroom seat for them. There are a lot of different things you can do for your Were, like setting up a small litter box for odor control and Ran can use the seat, you know so she doesn't have to like squat."

"Ooooh, brilliant! Did you make this?"

"Yea, it took awhile in Shop class, but I figured it was better than you having to buy some expensive seat for her at the store."

"Thank you Sharon, I'm sure Ran really appreciates it, right Ran?" Carly asked, running her finger down the wolf's stomach.

"Woof," Ran called out softly, nodding her head.

Carly and Sharon beamed, it was the first noise that Ran had made all day. Carly couldn't wait to build up a relationship with this adorable wolf.

*Meeting Sabastian and Connor*

The weather was starting to suck, Sharon really wished that Spring would hurry up and get here already. It was Saturday and she had just gotten out of bed and she had the house to herself, which meant Cam had spent the night to help keep her calm. Maybe she'd call Carly and see if she could come over later, the more the merrier right? As she stumbled into the kitchen, she was startled awake by a scratching noise; that wasn't anything in the kitchen that should be making that noise. She made a light whining noise, what if it was a mouse, or a rat?

She slowly crept around the kitchen, listening for the noise again, trying to pinpoint which cabinet it was coming from. When she was sure which one the creature was hiding in, she grabbed the first thing she saw on the counter (turned out to be a wooden spoon, very deadly), and reached out for the handle.

"Cam, Caaaaam, please tell me you're awake," she called out. "Please don't be a mouse, please don't be a mouse, pleeeeease don't be a mouse," she chanted, building up the nerve to open the door.

With a final chant, she threw open the small door and held up the spoon, eyes searching for the culprit. Her mouth fell open in surprise, staring up at her with a mouth full of Cheerios was a little male Were, eyes wide in terror. He quickly swallowed and ran, diving behind the other cereal boxes, little blonde tail sticking out. Sharon quickly dropped the spoon, still in disbelief but gently calling out to him.

"Hey little guy, I'm sorry I scared you. Are you okay?" she asked, using her softest voice.

"What's going on?" Cam called out, bat held out and ready to crack someone's head.

"Shh, Cam it's okay, false alarm. You scared him.

"What?" he asked, eyes still a little bleary and hair standing on end.

"I found-"

"Connor!" the Were interrupted.

Which confused her, was Connor his name? Why was he yelling it at her? But then she understood as she heard more scurrying and a second wolf came into view. He looked just like the first one, except he had straight hair where the first one had curls. He noticed her standing there and squeaked out in surprise, quickly joining his brother behind the boxes.

"Hey, it's okay, you can come out of there, don't worry, I won't hurt you. I promise, you just startled me was all. How did you guys get in here?"

She stood there and waited, knowing what it was like to be in a stressful now place; Cam slowly put the bat on the table and crept closer wanting to see who was causing the fuss. Eventually the second brother, Connor poked his head out, carefully sniffing the air and looking at her. Sharon smiled at him, he was just too adorable, hopefully she'd get them out of the cabinet soon, Mom might have a fit if they decided to live there. Slowly the twins became more comfortable to her and Cam's presence and came out from behind the box, but they were dancing from foot to foot, ready to flee at any sign of movement from them.

"H-hi," Connor whispered, giving the smallest of waves.

He pulled his brother close to him, wrapping his arms around him protectively, Connor must be the braver one of the two Sharon decided.

"Sorry for stealing food, we're just so hungry. Please don't hurt us."

Sharon gave a small gasp, eyes going wide, "I wouldn't hurt you, you can't help that you're hungry. If you come sit out on the counter, I'll see what we have in the fridge, something besides dry cereal."

The brother with curly hair perked up at her words, that sounded yummy, but only if Connor felt it was safe. They looked at each other, silently debating if they should trust her; after just a moment, their hunger won and they slowly crept forward to the edge of the cabinet.

"I promise, Sharon is a really nice person, she'll find you something really delicious," Cam promised.

Very slowly Sharon raised up her hands, letting them sniff her all they wanted, not rushing them. It was a bit before Connor took the first step onto her hands, his brother quickly following, not wanting to get separated. Once they were safely tucking into her palm, she walked over to the counter and set them down, watching as they explored a little bit. She would have continued to watch them, but she remembered that they were hungry so she skipped to the fridge and opened it, wondering what they might want.

As she looked through everything, she glanced back at the wolves and noticed how thin they looked. Meat would probably be the best thing for them at this point. So she pulled the sliced ham out of the refrigerator and grabbed the bread from the counter. Then she grabbed a napkin and pulled out a slice of bread, flattening it just a bit with the palm of her hand. After that she worked quickly, pulling apart a couple of slices of meat and layering them on the bread, folding it over and presenting it to the wolves. She tore off a small bit and held it out for one of them to take.

Connor looked at the sandwich and felt his mouth start to water, but he took the sandwich and offered it to his brother. But as soon as he took the small piece from her hand, she tore off some more and quickly held it out, so both brothers could try some at the same time. They wagged their tails, sitting down to eat the food. Between the two of them, the sandwich was gone in no time.

Sharon went and grabbed a bottle of water, twisting off the cap and filling it; she didn't have any small cups so this would have to do for now. As soon as she put it down, both brothers went for it, but they couldn't both drink at the same time. So one twin drank the cap first, and when Sharon refilled it, the other brother drank. After a couple of capfuls, both brothers were feeling much better.

"Thank you Miss. My name is Connor, and this is my brother Sabastian," the braver Were introduced.

"I'm Sharon, that's my best friend Cam, it's nice to meet you both, even if we did give each other a scare at first. How did you get in here? Why aren't you with your Owner?"

At her words, both the Weres wilted, shoulders sagging and ears drooping. It was Connor that spoke up again, "We got abandoned Miss Sharon, our other Owner just dropped us off on the lawn before driving away. We were so scared, we don't know what happened!"

Sharon gasped, "That's awful, who would do such a thing?"

"Probably a lacrosse player if I had to guess," Cam mumbled. Sharon gave him a look before turning back to the twins to hear what they had to say.

Sabastian started to sniffle, feeling heartbroken. "They had a kid, and he'd play with us all the time, although he was young so we had to be careful he wouldn't play too rough. But he was the bestest friend ever. Sometimes he forgot to feed us, but it wasn't his fault!"

Connor took over explaining as Sabastian wiped his eyes, "We don't know what we did wrong, please don't take us to the pound! We're really sorry for taking food, we were just hungry and scared. We managed to climb up into the mail slot, we wanted help but it didn't look like anyone was home. And we smelled food!"

"Shh, it's okay, like I said, I'm not mad. It's not your fault you were hungry, or that you got abandoned! That was your Human's fault, that isn't right. But you two are lucky we don't have a pet, you might have gotten hurt!"

"We know, but we didn't smell any when we fell through the slot so we decided to adventure. You promise you aren't going to take us to the pound? We'll go back outside if you want, just not the pound," Connor cried out.

Cam spoke up again, seeing their fear, "Sharon would never just abandon you, she has too big of a heart."

Spurred by Cam's words, Sharon reached out and picked up the two Weres slowly, and nuzzled them against her cheek. She felt them shaking in terror at first, clearly afraid, but they calmed down once they realized they weren't getting hurt.

"I won't take you to the pound, you both deserve to be loved and cared for, you're both just so adorable. But I don't know what to do with you, where do you want to go?"

Sabastion and Connor looked at each other, unsure of what to say, but when they turned back to the human holding them, they both shyly asked, "Could we stay with you?"

*Meeting Each Other*

"Hey Ran, guess what? Sharon found some Weres at her house, and she convinced her parents to let her keep them, isn't this exciting?"

Ran started clapping, excited for Sharon, she held up a closed fist, making a knocking motion for yes. Ever since Carly had found out that Ran didn't like to speak, she had begun looking up simple Signs for her to learn. It had quickly become a bonding experience as they watched videos online and read through books to learn as much as they could.

"She says that we can meet them today after school, since they finally feel comfortable enough to meet us. So I'll be a few minutes late getting home because we're stopping by her house to pick them up okay?"

Ran held up her fingers, giving Carly the sign for okay, she really couldn't wait to meet some Weres like her. She didn't mind being the only wolf in the house, but sometimes it was lonely. Now hopefully she'd have someone to play with while the Humans were at school.

"Well, I've got to get going, but Gotham and Mom will keep you company okay? See you after school!" Carly assured her, kissing Ran on the top of her head before setting her on Gotham's back.

*After School*

"I can't wait to meet your Weres, I hardly heard from you all weekend, but now I know why. Oh, this is so awesome! I bet they're super adorable!" Carly rambled on as Sharon met up with her.

"Can I come too? I haven't been over in awhile and I'm sure Gotham must miss me. Besides I haven't met Ran yet," Cam asked.

"Yea of course, you're part of the family too according to Gotham, and Ran has wanted to meet you as well. Let's go, let's go!"

Sharon giggled, knowing that Carly would be so happy to finally meet them. The weekend had been full of uncertainties, but by the end of the first night, Sab and Connor had been washed and fed, quickly attaching to her. When she had finally fallen asleep, they were both sleeping by her arm, clutching her sleeve as a subconscious effort not to be left behind. Then Sunday she had asked her parents if she could keep them, promising to take care of them and getting everything they needed. Her dad didn't have much of an opinion but her mom agreed to it. She explained that it would probably be good for her to make more friends, besides just Cam and Carly.

When Carly pulled up to the house, she quickly jumped out and ran into her house; she had managed to talk the twins into meeting her best friend. They were really unsure about all of this, new people scared them, which Sharon totally understood. But she explained that Carly also had a Were pet and that she was super nice and gentle.

"Hey guys, I'm home, are you ready to go? And don't worry, Cam is going to be there too," she called as she entered her room.

Both Weres popped up from her pillow, they had apparently been taking a nap. But they nodded their heads, holding each other's hand for comfort as she picked them up. As she departed, she looked around the room one last time, she hated that she had to leave them alone all day, she'd have to figure out a way to keep them busy while she was gone. When she took them out to the truck, they were shaking with nerves, but Sharon held them close, knowing her presence would comfort them; she hopped back into the truck and set the wolves on her lap before buckling in.

"Hi you guys, aren't you the cutest little things? I'm Carly, it's nice to meet you," Carly introduced herself, slowly reaching out her hand for them to sniff.

Sharon was petting them to keep them calm while they sniffed her hands; once they had happily sniffed everything, Carly drove back to her house.

*Carly's House*

"Okay now, when we go inside, you'll meet Ran and Gotham, my puppy. Well he's not really a puppy, he's big, but he's still my little puppy. But don't be scared, he's well trained and he loves Ran. So he knows how to be careful around Weres, he's just a bit excitable and will want to sniff you. But Sharon will be with you two and I'll be standing with Gotham okay? Just let us know if you get scared. I can always put him outside if you want me too. Ready?" Carly warned, knowing that her dog could be a surprise to humans, let alone the mini wolves.

She thought back to when she had first brought Ran home and Gotham came running up to greet her as usual. Poor little Ran let out the highest pitched scream into Carly's ear as the black lab jumped up; she ended up climbing into Carly's hair and hiding on top of her head for a long time. Poor Gotham had no idea what had made the noise, and he was sniffing around looking for the cause, but she kicked him outside so Ran could calm down. By the end of the night, Ran was ready to meet him though, after Carly promised over and over again that Gotham wouldn't eat her or step on her.

So they let Gotham back in and had him lay down, even though his tail was wagging like crazy, he did as he was told. Carly had slowly approached, shielding Ran in her cupped hands, the mini was clutching onto her fingers as she got closer to the large dog. But true to her word, Gotham stayed completely still, only reaching his nose forward in his eagerness to sniff the newcomer. Ran closed her eyes as she felt his breath on her face, nose sniffing wildly and whiskers brushing her skin; after a few more sniffs, Gotham gave her a very small lick, tilting his head wondering if they were friends yet. Ran giggled and reached out her tiny hand and patted the top of his nose, calling out a soft, "hi Gotham" as she did so.

Carly smiled at the memory, they had become almost inseparable after that, Ran would spend all day with Gotham and Mom while Carly was at school. As the pair walked into the house, she called out for Gotham, hearing him come thundering down the hall. Sharon held her minis close to her chest, giving them a space to hide where they felt comfortable. They squeaked when the dog made his appearance, Ran riding in on his back, clinging to his collar for safety.

"Hi you two, how are my little lovelies today?" Carly cooed, rubbing the dog's head before picking up Ran.

Then Gotham gave Sharon her regular greeting of sniffs and tail wagging as the pair went into the family room; then he caught sight of Cam. His energy doubled and he was bouncing around Cam's thighs in an effort to be petted and sniff every inch of the boy's pants at the same time. Sabastian and Connor could be seen poking their heads out between Sharon's fingers, glances split between the dog and Ran. Ran noticed their gaze and grinned at them, waving her hand in greeting.

Sharon introduced them as Carly made Gotham calm down, "Sabastian, Connor, this is Ran. She's Carly's Were pet and she's really quiet but friendly. Say hi you two, don't be rude," she said as she set them down on the couch.

Luckily Gotham was busy greeting Cam to bother with the two new Weres just yet. Connor stepped forward first, pulling Sabastian along behind him, together they looked at Ran as she made her way over to them from Carly's lap.

"Hi," she greeting in her quiet singsong voice.

Connor visibly relaxed as he heard her voice, someone with a soft voice like that could never be mean. His tail wagged, "Hello, i-it's nice to meet you. We were surprised when Mommy told us that she knew another Were besides us."

Sabastian took another step towards her, captivated by her long black hair and olive skin, "Where are you from?"

"Japan," came the single word response. Carly could tell that Ran was trying her hardest to be nice and talk with them.

"You have really pretty hair," Sabastian complimented, feeling a bit more talkative.

The twins approached the female wolf, each of them taking their time to sniff and get comfortable with each other. After a few moments of silence (Carly and Sharon were too captivated by their cuteness to say anything), Ran went back over to her owner and patted her leg.

"Cam?" she asked, looking at the boy on the floor.

Carly nodded, "Yup, that's Cam, he's Sharon's other best friend, the one we're always talking about. Cam, this is Ran, my Were pet."

"Nice to meet you Ran, uh hold on," he waved from the floor. Then he scrunched up his face and slowly Signed out 'nice to meet you' and smiled when Ran applauded him. She signed back saying that it was nice to meet him as well and then turned back to Carly.

"Read?" she asked, signing the name of the book she wanted.

"Ran wants to share her favorite book with you, is that okay?" Carly asked the twins, heading over to the bookcase.

"Okay," they responded, wondering what it might be.

Carly set the book down on the couch, watching as Ran opened it to her favorite page. It was a Wildlife book, categorizing all different species and each species had lots of pictures and a few paragraphs of their lifestyle. Ran eagerly pointed to the picture of the snow leopard, smiling at the boys. Then she tapped her middle finger against her chin twice (hand open), signing 'favorite' to them. The boys climbed onto the large book, looking at all the pictures, Sabastian readily agreeing with Ran that the leopard was a pretty creature.

It wasn't long before all three Weres were flipping through the pages looking at all the other kinds of animals in the world. They had been nervous at first, but Ran's quiet nature put them at ease since she wasn't pushing conversation on them or asking too many questions. Sharon was happy that they seemed to be getting along, it would be disappointing if they didn't get along with her best friend's pets. Speaking of pets, Sharon remembered Gotham and figured it was best if they met him too, now that Ran was here to show them how gentle he was.

"Hey Ran, do you want to introduce them to Gotham, I think they might be a little nervous," Sharon asked, patting the twins on the head.

Ran nodded her head and gave a short whistle, calling the dog to her; the twins jumped, hiding behind the book as the dog looked up on the couch. Ran gave two clicks of her tongue, asking Gotham to sit, which he did. Then she turned back and gestured to the twins, patting the side of Gotham head. The dog rested his chin on the couch, eying the other two creatures, he was excited to meet more friends! But he knew that he needed to be patient.

Slowly the twins approached, holding onto each other once more, and Ran reached out and grabbed Connor's hand, gently pulling him closer. She set his hand on Gotham's nose, and Connor smiled, he had really soft fur; sensing that his brother approved, Sabastian came forward and started to pet the dog as well. Once she was sure that they were okay with Gotham, Ran climbed up on his head and started rubbing his ears, causing him to close his eyes in bliss.

"See, he's super nice, Ran rides him around the house all day when I'm at school."

"Yea, I saw that when we came in, looks like a fun ride," Cam commented.

Connor looked up at Carly, "Do you leave Ran home alone?"

Carly shook her head, "No, my mom is home and she watches her, just in case she needs food or water, or just wants to play. Sharon isn't your dad home during the day?"

Sharon sighed, "Yea he is but he doesn't want to be disturbed, so Sab and Connor sit in my room most of the day. I'm sure they got really bored while I was gone. I'm not sure what to do about it though."

Carly sat and thought for a moment, looking down at the three Weres; they had all climbed onto the dog and were rubbing his back with their tiny hands. "They seem to like Ran, do you think maybe they'd like to hang out here? I know they are shy, but you're here every day after school anyways right? Maybe they can meet Mom later, before you leave. I don't want to overwhelm them though."

Sharon asked the twins about it, saying it was okay if they just wanted to stay home, but when they heard that Sharon came over here all the time, they jumped at the chance to be dropped off here. If Mommy came here, they wanted to be here too, that way they wouldn't get left behind again. Sharon had to promise them that she'd always come back to them, and that Ran was here so they knew they wouldn't be abandoned or alone.

Sharon remembered that they had had a really hard time this morning when she explained that she had to go to school and couldn't take them. She promised that they could stay inside the house where they were safe, there was food and water and the bed. But they wouldn't let go of her, so afraid; so Sharon decided to show them the alarm clock, explaining to them how it worked and what time it would show when she'd get out of school.

"I live here, I have to come home you two, I can't abandon you here. I promise, it will be okay; I wish I could take you to school with me, but I can't. You can do whatever you want in here though, you can draw, or read or just sleep. And after school, I can introduce you to the other Were Ran, would that be nice?"

Sabastian sniffled, trying not to cry as Sharon explained that she had to leave, but he nodded his head, meeting another Were might be cool. As long as Mommy was there!

"You promise you'll be there? You aren't taking us to the pound right?"

Sharon cuddled them close, "You know that I'd never lie to you right? You know when I'm lying, so you know I'm telling the truth. I'm just taking you to meet my best friend and her Were pet. I see them every day after school and I want you to meet them as well."

Eventually they had calmed down, but Sharon was almost late to school because she spent so much time comforting them. But she didn't care, as long as they finally felt safe, she was fine with it. Carly spoke then, bringing Sharon back to the moment, "Would you boys be alright with meeting my mom later today? She's at the store right now, but she'll love to meet you as well."

"Grandma is nice," Ran said, randomly joining the conversation, seeing that they were feeling slightly nervous. Out of habit she made the sign for it, her hand going to her chin and bouncing outward.

Sabastian held onto his tail, an old nervous habit of his, but nodded his head, he'd be brave as long as Mom was with him, Connor too!

To ease some of the tension, Ran suggested a game, "Tag?" she asked, pointing to the floor where they could play.

The boys nodded their head and jumped off of Gotham, both declaring 'not IT' at the same time. Sharon laughed as Ran rolled her eyes and took off after them, the boys laughing and squealing as they dodged her and split up. By the time Carly's mom had come home, the boys were worn out and feeling good that they had made another friend. They still felt a little nervous but this house seemed nice, and it might be better than staying all alone. They were a bit skittish when they met Ran's Grandma, but they waved politely, sitting together on Sharon's shoulder.

That night after Sharon and the wolves returned home, she asked them what they thought, both of them giving an honest opinion.

"I like Ran, she's not bossy or mean. Our other littermates were rude, especially the two Alphas of the bunch. But Ran is a Beta like us," Sabastian said.

Connor cut in, "But we're Omegas since we don't have an Alpha Sabastian, remember? But I do agree, Ran is nice. And she's quiet like you Mom."

"We don't need an Alpha, we have Mom!" Sabastian told his brother, crossing his arms.

Sharon laughed as she hugged them, this was a huge stepping stone for them, warming up to someone new and even starting to trust them, just a little bit. She was sure that they'd all become good friends once they started hanging out more.


End file.
